Our Politics are in the Toilet

Our Politics are in the Toilet

Joshua Foltz

Religion and politics aside, it is time we use some common sense in what has become one of the most ridiculous arguments in the history of our country.  That is, the argument that someone can use a restroom based on the gender they identify with.  I can end the debate very quickly. In fact, it is very simple.  Next time you use the restroom or step into the shower, look down and see what kind of parts your underwear are covering.  The discussion should end there.  But it doesn’t.  Why?

It is because we live in a society where everyone has a feeling of entitlement.  Everyone is owed something.  Everyone wants something for free.  Everyone wants things to be their way.  When things don’t go their way, they cry bigotry, discrimination, racism, or hate. 

I have nothing against anyone in the LGBT community.  I am not a hate monger or a bigot in any way.  I have friends and family in the community that I love very much.  This post is just my opinion on one subject.  Feel free to disagree.  Comments are welcome.

There is a case before Judge Gilbert in Chicago right now where a young boy feels it necessary to use the females’ changing room at his school.  Why?  Because, he “identifies” as a female.  The case was brought by 51 families who filed the lawsuit in May insisting on an end to the district policy that allows a boy to use the female changing rooms if that boy “presents himself as a girl”. The school district enacted the policy in 2015 when the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) declared the district in violation of Title IX’s prohibition against discrimination based on sex¹.  To top it off, the DOE threatened the district, saying it would withhold up to $6 million of federal funding if the policy was not enforced. 

These are school aged kids, teenagers.  I have a teenage daughter.  At this time in the life of a teenage girl, they are at their most shy and are at a point when they are the most embarrassed and aware of their bodies.  They are going through changes both biologically and emotionally as they grow into womanhood.  To force one kid on a group in order to accommodate his “feelings” is beyond absurd, especially at that age. 

The plaintiffs in the case have argued, “Title IX regulations and 40-plus years of case law allow for “separate but equal” application when it comes to private changing facilities, sleeping accommodations, and athletic participation. Interpretation of the regulation has always recognized the distinction between male and female and the inherent need for privacy between the two sexes”¹.  

The defense has tried to argue that the “separate but equal” arguments harken back to the days of the Civil Rights Movement and racial segregation.  There is a marked difference between using the argument for sexual identity and race.  No matter what color a person is, they are a part of the human race and should be treated as such.  It is not a matter of how a person feels or how they want to be perceived.  It is a matter of birth.  So, to use that same logic for boys who want to use the girls’ restroom is not only indefensible, but it tramples on what the Civil Rights Movement was about.  One’s gender identity is in their pants, especially in the teenage years. 

“Similar battles are playing out around the country as the Department of Education has told public schools that transgender students must be allowed to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.  Texas and a dozen other states asked a U.S. judge last week to block the Obama administration’s guidance in the matter, saying it usurps the authority of school districts”².  

After the smoke clears and the arguing is done, there is only one opinion I need.  I asked my teenage daughter how she felt about the possibility of boys being allowed to go into the girls’ locker room because they identify as a female.  Her response was, “that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.  I don’t want some boy in the locker room with me while I’m changing.”  From the mouths of babes. 

Please share if you agree.

Sources: 1) Bonnie Pritchett, Chicago judge considers meaning of male and female, world.wng.org, August 16, 2016

                  2) Fiona Ortiz, Illinois Next Battleground in LGBT Toilet Agenda ,CHICAGO (Reuters), August 15, 2016